Surgical tool support systems are used to securely and stably maintain surgical tools, such as surgical retractors, in a fixed position so that a physician or physician's assistant does not have to manually hold the tools throughout the duration of the surgical procedure. Some known surgical tool support systems include adjustable components which are removably mounted or otherwise attached to a surgical tool support or a horizontal bar, which is positioned over the patient and further connects in a fixed manner to the operating room table. An example of a surgical tool support is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,652, the content of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference thereto.
Surgical tools that are commonly held by such surgical tool support systems include, for example, retractors for retracting internal organs, and other structures, such as a patient's ribcage. The Stieber Rib Grip Kit™ sold by Automated Medical Products Corp. is used, for instance, for retracting the ribs during abdominal surgery to retract the upper middle abdomen of a patient.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,843 describes a tool holder platform that can be mounted to horizontal bar that is positioned above a patient to hold a hydra, which, with various support arms, supports other tools such as a retractor to retract and maintain organs in the retracted position.